


Protensive

by gala_apples



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Case Fic, Other, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 03:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1210561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gala_apples/pseuds/gala_apples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drawn out case, and a relationship that could last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protensive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [doctor_jasley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctor_jasley/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASLEY. If you don't like this I'll eat my damn hat.

Nick’s used to seeing a variety of people in the course of a day, and he does his best to treat them all the same, at least until he gets into the meat of the case. It’s not how the majority of his coworkers act. In most cases the guy that looks like the thug has the weapon, and they act accordingly. But even before immersion in the family business Nick had tried to be open minded on scene, and now it’s practically a necessity. Once you’re in the wesen world you learn that superficially upstanding citizens can have dark sides. He’s seen blood feuds between clockmakers and chefs, a group of churchgoers beat a man to death, businessowners kidnapping and raping women. Hell, Nick’s seen a mass murdering nine year old girl. So when a massive man is escorted to his desk by Wu, Nick tamps down on any prejudices he has about grossly obese people and asks what Franco thinks he asks far too often.

“What can I help you with, Mr...?”

The man squishes himself into the only empty chair. It has arms, and the man’s sides are bulging out in every direction from the bars. Only once he’s fully settled does he speak. “I’m Morgan Earle. I know who you are, Burkhardt.”

Nick glances across the double desk at Hank. He’s still a cop. Not everything is about his second profession. Sometimes Nick can go days without any reference to it, unless Rosalee and Monroe count. But when someone starts a conversation with an ominous statement like that, there’s a good chance it’s wesen related.

“I’ll ask again, how can I help?”

“I need you to ask someone to stop.”

“Stop what, exactly?”

Earle swipes his fingers under the edge of the white knit cap he’s wearing, like he’s fixing his bangs or something. “I’m being threatened.”

Nick nods, giving his best towards sympathy. What can he say, he’s a new generation of cop. The kind taught to care how the community feels. He grabs a yellow pad without breaking eye contact. “Do you have a copy of any of these threats?”

“Physically.”

It takes a good deal of professionalism to not scoff. The man’s 6’5 if he’s a good inch, and probably close to four hundred pounds. But if he’s a massive eisbiber and the other party is a lowen or a geier then it’s possible Earle really _is_ feeling threatened.

“And you’re reporting this to me, specifically, not to another detective?” Nick’s not going to say the word Grimm out loud, but everyone in a five foot diameter knows that’s what he means.

Earle confirms this, chin fat compressing against his wide neck as he nods. “I don’t want you to kill him. But you can tell him to stop.”

“Okay. I’m going to need a name and contact information.”

***

Monroe’s thinking about getting a new kitchen table. There was barely enough room for Nick to eat breakfast with him when he and Juliette were on the outs. With a dinner now frequently eaten by four the space is even more minimal. Juliette likes talking expressively, hands flying with hands like punctuation. That doesn’t work when a table the size of an art photography book means she’s practically hitting people in the face with her movements.

What’s stopping him is that it’s a big commitment. More because of what it says, less because of the price of a new table or whether or not he enjoys furniture shopping. He can’t just decide that they’re at that place. Even if he wants to.

“So I go to the tailor that the guy tells me to. Apparently his weight loss group wanted embroidered Before-” Nick does awkward air quotes around his still in hand utensil, “shirts and the alleged assailant was an employee.”

“Doing the full on Jared from Subway? That’s nice, I guess.”

Nick shrugs at Rosalee. Of course he doesn’t get what dieting is like. No doubt he’s been skinny and hot as hell since high school. “So, not only is the guy about four feet and anorexic looking, he also volges out of sheer terror the moment I walk in.”

“I know the feeling,” Monroe points out. “Not that I hold a grudge.” He doesn’t, really. He was a Grimm’s first wesen, and there was a kidnapped child. He’s technically lucky Nick didn’t come at him with a chainsaw.

“Turns out Mr Nugian’s a mauzhertz. He’s more nervous than Bud, if you can imagine that. I finally get out of him that a morbidly obese man threatened to make his life miserable when he refused a group discount. I guess Earle was hoping I’d act first, ask questions later.” 

“Well that’s stupid. Like you’re the Grimm your ancestors were,” Juliette says, hand gesture augmenting her derision.

“Pass the salt?” Rosalee asks. There’s no room for anything but plates on the table, so the condiments are on the counter behind Nick.

Monroe wants to believe this is permanent. He can’t quite say he doesn’t see why it wouldn’t be. He can. The fact remains however that all the reasons why not are external reasons, and they’re all defiant people, really. External problems can suck it, as far as he’s concerned. And if they are permanent, or at least long term, then accommodating and adapting his house is step one.

***

Juliette’s sex life is much better now than it was a year ago. That’s saying a lot because it was no slouch then. She can’t tell Nick though. It might hurt his ego. Guys are sensitive about the stupidest things. Monroe would report back to Nick. They’ve got that bro-bond, just like Nick and Hank, except sans pants. Rosalee would take the information as encouragement to research more things to try. Juliette's not sure her body could take that. She can barely keep up as it is. And her friends are completely out of the question. None of them even know she and Nick have opened themselves to another couple. Tanya would call it cheating and Jen would call it swinging, never mind that she and Nick have zero interest in any other couple.

It’s a shame, really. Just once Juliette would like to brag about the tenfold increase in orgasms. She can have multiples in one session, which is new. She can’t remember who gave her her first second orgasm in the same round of sex, only that the orgasm hit with a side of shock, and the aftermath was sheer giddiness.

It’s not always all four of them in a bed. Juliette would love it to be, and she knows the others would too, but it doesn’t always work. She’s an on-call vet at a 24 hour pet emergency room. Some of Rosalee’s ingredients involve overnight care. And obviously Nick can get busy at night. Life takes precedence over crazy sex spirals, unfortunately.

Tonight’s been uninterrupted though, which has led from dinner to the bedroom. It used to be Monroe’s bedroom, now Juliette just thinks of it as _the_ bedroom. Her hands are all over Monroe’s hairy chest. Rosalee’s saliva and her own juices are smeared against her inner thighs. Nick is at the top of the bed, whispering the dirtiest things in her ear. Juliette loves nights like these. If only she could brag to someone. Maybe she’ll start a blog.

***

Rosalee comes out from the back of the apothecary when the door chimes. It’s best policy to always engage the walk-ins. They’re more likely to turn into actual customers that way. This one doesn’t waste time wandering; he heads directly for the counter she just stepped behind. A good thing too. The man is large enough that he would probably knock things down if he had to fit into the aisles.

“Hello. What do you need?”

“I don’t know if you can help me,” the man begins, scratching his head through his knit cap. It’s then that Rosalee notices the bandages on his hand. Maybe he needs a wesen specific pain reliever? Just because the shop no longer sells human organs doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally get customers looking for some such. 

“Are there any fancy supplements you have that grow bones back?”

It’s not the weirdest question she’s ever gotten. Rosalee flips through her mental rolodex and comes up blank. “I can’t think of one off the top of my head. But if you give me your contact info, I can consult my books and see if there’s something.”

“My name’s Morgan. You can call me here if you find something,” he says, holding out a business card between fat fingers. “I’d really like to have my finger back, if possible.” He says it with such calm that Rosalee has to wonder if he’s on a human pharmaceutical. 

It’s not until he’s been gone for twenty minutes that Rosalee connects the full name on the card with the one Nick mentioned at dinner two nights ago. She hurries to her books, then wheels around and goes back towards the telephone. Nick’s going to check it no matter how sure she is. She might as well cut the time in half and look at her books while he’s looking in his trailer. If she’s right Earle is in a lot of danger.

***

Hank doesn’t say anything as Nick perches on the corner of Hank’s desk. He’ll have to rearrange his papers when Nick stands up again, but you get used to a partner’s quirks. Even when they’re _I secretly fight evil animal hybrids_. And speaking of...

“I got a lead on the Earle case.”

“Yeah? I thought you dismissed it?”

“I had, until Rosalee told me something. For all that mauzhertzen have more than one predator, they also have prey. Elefantrumpf are terrified of them, every last one. That’s what Earle is.”

Hank frowns. “So why didn’t he have a fear response and attack Nugian back? We’ve seen it before.”

Nick shakes his head. “Two reasons. One, it’s a completely debilitating fear. In some cases an elefantrumpf only has to see a mauzhertz to be literally scared to death. They just freeze in place, have a heart attack, and die.”

“Wow.” A panic attack Hank could understand. But just dropping dead is a bit crazy in his book.

“Two, Elefantrumpfs are pacifists. Extreme pacifists,” Nick elaborates, stressing the first word. “Elefantrumpf bones are made from ivory. There are so few of them because enterprising wesen butcher them. They don’t fight back. Hell Hank, Earle asking us to ask him to please stop was pretty much an act of extreme aggression.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yesterday Earle let Nugian cut off a finger.”

Damn. “And how do you know all this?”

“Rosalee and Monroe told me. Monroe was as giddy as Rosalee was for the gluhenvolk case.”

Hank has a hard time picturing calm, put together, clock-building Monroe as giddy, but Nick sees different sides to the man. Nick’s seen _all_ sides of him, actually. Hank doesn’t get it, really. He’s loved three people, but they were sequential. All at once seems way too complicated to him. But Nick makes it work, just like he makes every other overwhelming part of his life work. 

“They’re very rare. Hunted to extinction, practically, just like the gluhenvolk. They’ve trained themselves to never volge because pretty much every time they do someone chops off a limb. Rosalee doesn’t, but the things you can do with the ivory... apparently there’s a huge black market.”

Hank’s not sure he wants to know the details. He has a sneaking suspicion it has to do with the same sort of thing as the gallbladder harvesting case. “Well, if Earle got a finger chopped off we can definitely charge Nugian.”

Nick nods and stands fully upright. “I love this part.”

Hank agrees completely. The justice part is definitely better than the paperwork part. And it’s only noon. Justice this early means they might finish in time for Nick to have dinner with his fiance, girlfriend, and boyfriend.


End file.
